Fence post installing tool



Oct. 29, 1957 V. L. BISHOP FENCE POST INSTALLING TOOL Filed Dec. 20,1954 UnitedStates Patent FENCE POST INSTALLING TOOL VemonL. Bishop, DesMoines, Iowa Application December 20, 1954, Serial No. 476,359 3 Claims.(Cl. 2541) This invention relates to a fence post tool and moreparticularly to a means for facilitating the installing of the post inthe ground and its removal therefrom.

In recent years, metal fence posts have become very popular. This isespecially true in temporary fence setting, inasmuch as the steel postsare driven into the ground instead of the usual herebefore digging ofpost holes. Such posts are usually driven into the ground by poundingdownwardly on their tops by suitable hammer means. When it is desired tochange the position of the fence or remove it from use, the posts arepulled usually by a rather complicated reverse jack means. Obviously,such method of post installation and removal, while a decidedimprovement over the older method, is very slow. Also, the posts wereoften bent, broken or damaged.

Therefore, one of the principal objects of my invention is to provide afence post driving and removal tool that is rapid in operation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a fence post installingtool that is easy to use.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a tool forinstalling fence posts in the ground, and removing the same therefrom,that does not damage the posts.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a metal fence postinstalling tool that makes possible the use of lighter and more fragileposts.

Still further objects of this invention are to provide a fence post toolthat is economical in manufacture and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangements, andcombination, of the various parts of the device, whereby the objectscontemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my fence post tool,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of my device in the act offacilitating the manual forcing of a post into the ground,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional View of the device, taken on line3 3 of Fig. 2, and more fully illustrates its construction, and

Fig. 4 is a side view of my device and illustrates its position on apost when it is desired to pull a post up from the ground.

In the drawings I have used the numeral to designate a metal rod fencepost, having its bottom end 11 sharpened and the earth anchor plate 12.By the use of my tool the post rod may be of minimum diameter because itdoes not have to bear the burden of being hammered on or driven from itstop to cause it to penetrate the ground. The method of fastening a wirefence to such a rod post is not a part of this invention, but one way ofdoing it is illustrated in my co-pending application on a Fence PostStructure.

` I will now describe my device as used for installing posts. My fencepost tool has an elongated metal tubular body 13. .At near the bottomend of the body tbe 13 is a radially extending horizontal spur 14. Thislateral extending spur 1'4 is the operators shoe pedal rest when usingthe tool and is similar in use to that of a spade. At the top portion ofthe body 13 is a slot opening in its wall at 15. Extending laterally andat each siderof Ythe slot area is a bearing ear 16, as shown in Fig. 3.These two bearing ears are in parallel spaced relationship and betweenthem is the lever bar 17. vA rivet, bolt, or like18'extends through theears 16 and the bar lever 17, thus pivotally securing the lever 17 tothe top portion of the tubular body. rThe pivot point ofthe bar lever isnear the top inner end of the bar lever as shown in Fig. 2. The innerend of the bar lever extends downwardly and forwardly and penetrates thehollow longitudinal plane of the body 13. The forward end of the leverbar is vertically grooved 19 as shown in Fig. 3. When the bar lever islifted as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, its inner end will clear thehollow longitudinal plane of the tube 13, but when lowered toapproximately a horizontal position it will penetrate this plane and ifa post 10 be within the tubular body 13, will wedge thereon as shown.The tubular body 13 should be of strong tubular metal. Thus, to use mydevice for installing a post in the ground the rod post 10 is threadedthrough the tubular body 13. The lever bar is manually grasped andpulled downwardly to engage and wedge the rod post within the tubularbody 13. The point 11 of the post is placed on the ground 2t), and byplacing the footonto the spur rest 14, and with manual downward pressureon the bar lever, the post rod is forced into the ground; the tool beingused substantially the same as a spade is used. However, by theelongated tubular body 13 embracing substantially the entire length ofthe rod post, the rod post cannot bend under the driving force, and,therefore, a rod post of minimum Weight and thickness may be used. Alsoit will be noted that there is no hammering on the top of the post todrive it into the ground and, therefore, there is no damage to the post.An operator can force a post into the ground by one single downwardthrust, thus making for speed and ease of operation.

To remove a post, my device is merely turned over to bring the spur 14to the top and the bar lever to the bottom. The device is threadeddownwardly over the rod post as shown in Fig. 4. By grasping the barlever and pulling it upwardly it will wedge onto the post, and with theoperators shoulder under the spur l14, it is a simple and quick matterto raise it upwardly bringing the post with it and out of the ground. Amovement of the bar lever away from the spur will release the post andit will slide easily from the tool.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my fencepost installing tool without departing from the real spirit and purposeof my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, anymodified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which maybe reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a fence post tool, an elongated tubular body adapted to slidablyembrace a fence post, a slot in the side of said tubular body at one ofits ends, two parallel bearing ears secured to the edges of said slotand extending outwardly from said tubular body, a lever bar pivotallyconnected by its inner end to said bearing ears, said inner end of saidlever bar extending downwardly and forwardly with its tip penetratingthe interior of said tubular body when said lever bar is in a horizontalposition, and a spur foot rest on the other end of said tubular body.

2. In a fence post tool, an elongated tubular body adapted to slidablyembrace a fence post, a slot in the side of said tubular body at one ofits ends, two parallel bearing ears'secured to the edges ofs'aidsiotandjextendingV outwardly from said' tubularbody, a lever bar.eccennically and pivotally connected by lits inner end to said bearingears, said inner end of` said lever barextending downwardly andforwardly:with'itsI tip pene# trating lthe interior of saidV tubularybody when said lever' bar is in a horizontal position, and a spur footrest on the other end of said tubular body.V *n ,Y

3. In a fence post tool, an elongatedtubularrbody adapted' to slidablyembrace a fence post, a slot Ain the side of said tubular body at one ofits ends, two-parallel bearing ears secured to the edges of said slotand extending outwardly from said tubular body, a lever bareccentrically and pivotally connected by the'upper portion of its innerend to said bearing ears, said inner end of said lever bar extendingdownwardly and forwardly with its tip penetrating the interior of saidtubular body when said lever bar is in a horizontal position, and a spurfoot rest on the other end of said tubular body.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNTTED STATES PATENTS976,60()V Rhodes Nov. 22, 1910 2,033,227 Brown Mar. 10, 1936 2,432,650Bezzindes Dec. 16, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 329,923 Germany Dec. 1, 1920334,161 Germany Mar. 5, 1921

